The Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spy, and Superhero Genre

[240B]

I just found Babylon 5, all episodes, streaming and for FREE.


Check it out. https://www.go90.com/videos/9dcpZWjg5E4


I've had a desire to revisit the series for years. I've never had a chance to watch all the episodes in order, but I will now. This is pretty cool.

[kevindavis007]

I just found Babylon 5, all episodes, streaming and for FREE.


Check it out. https://www.go90.com/videos/9dcpZWjg5E4


I've had a desire to revisit the series for years. I've never had a chance to watch all the episodes in order, but I will now. This is pretty cool.

That show changed Sci-Fi for the better. I already saw it again, and it still holds up. Well except for Season 1 and Season 5.

[catfish1957]

It was a pilot which in my opinion tend to be the worst of any series.

Again this is from the creator of the "Family Guy" which is garbage.

Trey and Matt did a great parody of these dupes on South Park, where all their plots were randomly chosen by a manatee in tank with floating balls.  McFarlane is talentless tool.

[Ghost Bear]

Again this is from the creator of the "Family Guy" which is garbage.

Trey and Matt did a great parody of these dupes on South Park, where all their plots were randomly chosen by a manatee in tank with floating balls.  McFarlane is talentless tool.

While I don't care for McFarlane's attempts at comedy or SF, he does have a surprisingly good singing voice. He did the voice of the mouse character "Mike" in the animated film "Sing"...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViSv0rtOr1c

[240B]

That show changed Sci-Fi for the better. I already saw it again, and it still holds up. Well except for Season 1 and Season 5.

@kevindavis

Interesting stuff. Elements of DS9, or DS9 stole from Babylon, and definite traits of Battllestar Galactica. It is interesting. So far I'm diggin' it. Some elements of Star Trek too.

It seems to be like a stew, or a potpourri of all the Space shows of history.

There is no doubt that the people who wrote Capria were fans of Babylon. I have only seen a few episodes in my life, here and there, in no particular order. Looking forward to watching all 5 seasons. I like it.

[kevindavis007]

@kevindavis

Interesting stuff. Elements of DS9, or DS9 stole from Babylon, and definite traits of Battllestar Galactica. It is interesting. So far I'm diggin' it. Some elements of Star Trek too.

It seems to be like a stew, or a potpourri of all the Space shows of history.

There is no doubt that the people who wrote Capria were fans of Babylon. I have only seen a few episodes in my life, here and there, in no particular order. Looking forward to watching all 5 seasons. I like it.

@240B


Then I'm not going to say a thing.. But in Season 3, a certain someone from Star Trek shows up.  I think that DS9 does copy of some elements of B5.

[240B]

@240B


Then I'm not going to say a thing.. But in Season 3, a certain someone from Star Trek shows up.  I think that DS9 does copy of some elements of B5.

Already there. S1 E6 Mind Wars - Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is the lead.


You're not alone in thinking that DS9 was taken from Babylon 5. Check this out from Wikipedia.



Star Trek: Deep Space Nine controversy


The pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) aired just weeks before Babylon 5 debuted. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski indicated that Paramount Television was aware of his concept as early as 1989,[89] when he attempted to sell the show to the studio, and provided them with the series bible, pilot script, artwork, lengthy character background histories, and plot synopses for 22 "or so planned episodes taken from the overall course of the planned series".[90][91]


Paramount declined to produce Babylon 5, but later announced Deep Space Nine was in development, two months after Warner Bros. announced its plans for Babylon 5. Straczynski stated that, even though he was confident that Deep Space Nine producer/creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller had not seen this material, he suspected that Paramount executives used his bible and scripts to steer development of Deep Space Nine.[92][93][94]


He and Warner did not file suit against Paramount, largely because Straczynski didn't see it as a productive option, with negative repercussions for both TV series. In 1993 he responded to a Deep Space Nine fan who saw the lack of legal action as proof that Straczynski's allegation was unfounded, "If there is any (to use your term) winking and nudging going on, it's on the level of 'Okay, YOU (Paramount) know what happened, and *I* know what happened, but let's try to be grownup about it for now,' though I must say that the shapechanging thing nearly tipped me back over the edge again. If there are no more major similarities that crop up in the next few weeks or months, with luck we can continue that way."[94]

[LateForLunch]

Already there. S1 E6 Mind Wars - Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is the lead.


You're not alone in thinking that DS9 was taken from Babylon 5. Check this out from Wikipedia.



Star Trek: Deep Space Nine controversy


The pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) aired just weeks before Babylon 5 debuted. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski indicated that Paramount Television was aware of his concept as early as 1989,[89] when he attempted to sell the show to the studio, and provided them with the series bible, pilot script, artwork, lengthy character background histories, and plot synopses for 22 "or so planned episodes taken from the overall course of the planned series".[90][91]


Paramount declined to produce Babylon 5, but later announced Deep Space Nine was in development, two months after Warner Bros. announced its plans for Babylon 5. Straczynski stated that, even though he was confident that Deep Space Nine producer/creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller had not seen this material, he suspected that Paramount executives used his bible and scripts to steer development of Deep Space Nine.[92][93][94]


He and Warner did not file suit against Paramount, largely because Straczynski didn't see it as a productive option, with negative repercussions for both TV series. In 1993 he responded to a Deep Space Nine fan who saw the lack of legal action as proof that Straczynski's allegation was unfounded, "If there is any (to use your term) winking and nudging going on, it's on the level of 'Okay, YOU (Paramount) know what happened, and *I* know what happened, but let's try to be grownup about it for now,' though I must say that the shapechanging thing nearly tipped me back over the edge again. If there are no more major similarities that crop up in the next few weeks or months, with luck we can continue that way."[94]

Yep. Nice synopsis of the likely crappola. I know a lady in the 1980s who wrote a punk-vampire-movie script, tried to sell it, failed. Saw a wide-release movie where the first twenty minutes were lifted directly from her script without attribution to her. She spoke with an attorney whose first question was, "Did the movie that ripped you off make any money?" The answer was "no", the film lost money at the box office. He recommended that she drop it because there was nothing to be gained financially from winning the suit. 

"Hollywood is a long, plastic hallway - a shallow money trench where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs every day." - Hunter Thompson

As Cliff Robertson discovered, suing people successfully in H-Wood can often be a Pyrrhic victory.

[Ghost Bear]

Already there. S1 E6 Mind Wars - Chekov (Anton Yelchin) is the lead.

Small correction, it was the original "Chekov", Walter Koenig, who appeared on Babylon 5 in the role of Bester.

I think the character @kevindavis was referring to appears in two episodes of Season 2 of Babylon 5, playing the leader of a certain faction of the Earth Alliance military.  In mid-Season 3 however it's announced that his character is dead. The reason his character was killed off was because the actor, Robert Foxworth, had been booked to appear on ST:DS9, and the filming schedule for DS9 conflicted with B5's filming schedule. Rather than schedule around it, J. Michael Straczynski (creator of B5) killed off his character.

There's a well known outtake included in the B5 Season 3 Gag Reel (which can be found on YouTube) where instead of the death of Foxworth's character, it's announced that his character couldn't appear because he was on Deep Space Nine... his agent double-booked him. 

[kevindavis007]

Small correction, it was the original "Chekov", Walter Koenig, who appeared on Babylon 5 in the role of Bester.

I think the character @kevindavis was referring to appears in two episodes of Season 2 of Babylon 5, playing the leader of a certain faction of the Earth Alliance military.  In mid-Season 3 however it's announced that his character is dead. The reason his character was killed off was because the actor, Robert Foxworth, had been booked to appear on ST:DS9, and the filming schedule for DS9 conflicted with B5's filming schedule. Rather than schedule around it, J. Michael Straczynski (creator of B5) killed off his character.

There's a well known outtake included in the B5 Season 3 Gag Reel (which can be found on YouTube) where instead of the death of Foxworth's character, it's announced that his character couldn't appear because he was on Deep Space Nine... his agent double-booked him. 

@240B
@Ghost Bear



Close but no cigar.

[Ghost Bear]

Close but no cigar.

OK, now I'm all curious as to who you meant....   

[kevindavis007]

OK, now I'm all curious as to who you meant....   

Roddenberry

[Ghost Bear]

Roddenberry

Oh... yes. Now I know what you meant.  ^-^

[240B]

Small correction, it was the original "Chekov", Walter Koenig, who appeared on Babylon 5 in the role of Bester.

@Ghost Bear
@kevindavis


Thanks for the correction, it explains much. While searching for Chekov, Google said, Chekov was killed by his own car. That should have been a big red flag that I had the 'new' Chekov, but I wasn't really paying attention. My fault.

It was a little confusing. I'm not used to all these new guys assuming characters from the early 60s. To me, there is only one Chekov. I guess I will have to be more awake now, when I post about Star Trek.

[Ghost Bear]

@Ghost Bear
@kevindavis


Thanks for the correction, it explains much. While searching for Chekov, Google said, Chekov was killed by his own car. That should have been a big red flag that I had the 'new' Chekov, but I wasn't really paying attention. My fault.

It was a little confusing. I'm not used to all these new guys assuming characters from the early 60s. To me, there is only one Chekov. I guess I will have to be more awake now, when I post about Star Trek.

No worries. Babylon 5 was my favorite show for a number of years, and even though I haven't seen a full episode in 10-15 years now, I was enough of an obsessive fan back then to still remember the characters, plot lines, and events pretty well.

I need to get out my DVD set and rip the episodes to my Plex server so that I can watch them whenever I feel like seeing them...

[kevindavis007]

The new Star Trek theme song:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dYJ2dXKAIs

[Gefn]

I saw the premier episode of The Orville last night. Using the standard four star (****) critic scale, I gave it one star  (*).

Maybe it will get better as the series progresses (or maybe the episode will get better if I rewatch it).

The audience, overall, liked it:

Metacritic

Rotten Tomatoes

I was going to ask if anyone saw it. The first episode is free on iTunes. I downloaded it but haven't viewed it yet.

Ok it's several hours. Later I've seen it. It wasn't the worst I've ever seen but it wasn't the best. I'll give it one more shot and if it doesn't improve bye bye

[kevindavis007]

[Gefn]

@Hopalong Ginsberg

Deimos ping.

[240B]

Watching B5 S1 E17. I am so glad I happened onto that site. This is cool.
My TV supports casting, but I also have a direct HDMI link. The go90 website supports casting if you rightclick on the video. So, I've got the full picture and surround sound.


In reference to our earlier discussion, B5 is why DS9 invented the wormhole. It is exactly the same as the jump-port in B5. So, is does look more and more like DS9 is derived from Babylon. And to me, it looks like the jump fighters and the fact that all the main characters are fighter pilots was lifted from Battlestar G.


That's just my simple take on it. Any comments or corrections are always welcome.

[Free Vulcan]

Watching B5 S1 E17. I am so glad I happened onto that site. This is cool.
My TV supports casting, but I also have a direct HDMI link. The go90 website supports casting if you rightclick on the video. So, I've got the full picture and surround sound.


In reference to our earlier discussion, B5 is why DS9 invented the wormhole. It is exactly the same as the jump-port in B5. So, is does look more and more like DS9 is derived from Babylon. And to me, it looks like the jump fighters and the fact that all the main characters are fighter pilots was lifted from Battlestar G.


That's just my simple take on it. Any comments or corrections are always welcome.

I think you're right. One of the reasons I did like B5 is it it did have a bit of a Galactica feel to it, even if in reverse somewhat.

[240B]

I think you're right. One of the reasons I did like B5 is it it did have a bit of a Galactica feel to it, even if in reverse somewhat.

@Free Vulcan

B5 does seem to be an amalgam of several different shows. For example, B5 is following verbatim, the A-plot, B-plot, story structure which was instituted by TNG, e.g., A-plot: a meteor is going to blow up a friendly planet; B-plot: Data wants to understand why humans laugh.

B5 is using this format. In the B5 episode I just watched - A-plot: a famous Minbari's body has gone missing which may lead to war; B-plot: A newly discovered telepath must decide whether or not to join Psi-corps. It's the same format.

And, in agreement with your post, I got that space-opera Battlestar feeling right away. It is its own show with a unique storyline, but at the same time, it strikes me a being familiar and comfortable. It makes me think of what a composite show would look like if you threw them all in a pot, and made a Sci-Fi space soup.

[kevindavis007]

http://vimeo.com/ondemand/continuums1

[kevindavis007]

How To Watch ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
https://trekmovie.com/2017/09/15/how-to-watch-star-trek-discovery/

[LateForLunch]

How To Watch ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
https://trekmovie.com/2017/09/15/how-to-watch-star-trek-discovery/

Do you think there is even a remote chance the it will be free of political bull snot !?!

[Ghost Bear]

This week in SF/F history...

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, was first published in the U.K. by George Allen & Unwin on September 21, 1937.  And...

The Silmarillion, was first published in the U.K. by George Allen & Unwin on September 15, 1977.

Both created of course by J.R.R. Tolkien.

80th anniversary and 40th anniversary, which has the strange kind of symmetry that is pleasing to a mildly OCD brain. The only thing that could make it better would be if both could have been published on the same date, 40 years apart. 

[LateForLunch]

This week in SF/F history...

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, was first published in the U.K. by George Allen & Unwin on September 21, 1937.  And...

The Silmarillion, was first published in the U.K. by George Allen & Unwin on September 15, 1977.

Both created of course by J.R.R. Tolkien.

80th anniversary and 40th anniversary, which has the strange kind of symmetry that is pleasing to a mildly OCD brain. The only thing that could make it better would be if both could have been published on the same date, 40 years apart. 

Uh, has anyone but me read the Silmarillion !?! Amazing. It is a notch of seriousness above the Rings books or the Hobbit as good as they are. Many don't know that the LOTR and the Hobbit books came after (or rather out of) Tolkien's work on the Silmarillion.  It begs for a serialized screen adaptation (like Game of Thrones), but it would be a formidable undertaking - not everyone cares about good v. evil as a plot idea - also there is some Catholic thematic work in it that would likely raise hackles with vast swaths of the viewing public.

[Ghost Bear]

Uh, has anyone but me read the Silmarillion !?! Amazing. It is a notch of seriousness above the Rings books or the Hobbit as good as they are. Many don't know that the LOTR and the Hobbit books came after (or rather out of) Tolkien's work on the Silmarillion.  It begs for a serialized screen adaptation (like Game of Thrones), but it would be a formidable undertaking - not everyone cares about good v. evil as a plot idea - also there is some Catholic thematic work in it that would likely raise hackles with vast swaths of the viewing public.

I've read it a few times... I first tried to read it shortly after the first U.S. paperback edition came out in 1979 (I was in high school.) I'll admit that I didn't get through it the first time... in fact, I think it took me three tries before I did manage to read all of it. It's a very uneven book; some parts are very dull, some parts are riveting. But I guess that's to be expected due to the way it was put together.

Over the years I've come to appreciate it as a "stroll through history" in regards to Middle Earth, and when the mood strikes I'll take out my copy and wander through it again.

[Free Vulcan]

Uh, has anyone but me read the Silmarillion !?! Amazing. It is a notch of seriousness above the Rings books or the Hobbit as good as they are. Many don't know that the LOTR and the Hobbit books came after (or rather out of) Tolkien's work on the Silmarillion.  It begs for a serialized screen adaptation (like Game of Thrones), but it would be a formidable undertaking - not everyone cares about good v. evil as a plot idea - also there is some Catholic thematic work in it that would likely raise hackles with vast swaths of the viewing public.

I have read it a couple of times years ago. I think you could make at least 6 movies from it and it would indeed be a very big undertaking.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Catching up on the last several weeks of Salvation.  It's actually not that bad after the first few episodes.

[kevindavis007]

Catching up on the last several weeks of Salvation.  It's actually not that bad after the first few episodes.

I think it was the case of the slow start. I do have to admit the last few episodes have been good. If they do bring it back, it might go to CBS All-Access.

[kevindavis007]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1u-JxaxYc8

[Ghost Bear]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1u-JxaxYc8[/size]

I remember seeing the first teaser trailer for "Interstellar" while at the theater for some other movie. It just had Matthew McConaughey's monologue over scenes of the space race and crop failures, and that final shot of two people watching a rocket take off in the distance... and when it was done I thought, "I have to see that!"

Still one of my favorite SF movies ever.

[kevindavis007]

I remember seeing the first teaser trailer for "Interstellar" while at the theater for some other movie. It just had Matthew McConaughey's monologue over scenes of the space race and crop failures, and that final shot of two people watching a rocket take off in the distance... and when it was done I thought, "I have to see that!"

Still one of my favorite SF movies ever.

To be honest, I had never seen a hard sci-fi flick like Interstellar in the theater. This and the Martian was the exception. When I first saw the teaser trailer for this movie, I was like I had to see this.  Who here isn't like Coop.  One of my favorite hard sci-fi movies.

[LateForLunch]

To be honest, I had never seen a hard sci-fi flick like Interstellar in the theater. This and the Martian was the exception. When I first saw the teaser trailer for this movie, I was like I had to see this.  Who here isn't like Coop.  One of my favorite hard sci-fi movies.

It's got great writing - the story is mostly about the characters as all good drama should probably be.

Mark Twain: (Criticizing a story an amateur sent to him) God help you son. You have a style before you have a story.

People like good stories. It goes back to ancient times - maybe prehistoric.

Some of the highlights are the principle's office scene when Cooper is scolded by some school drone with a political agenda that is more important than the truth. Sound familiar? Kudos to the writers and to the principle for having the courage to speak out.

Also the science, though speculative is within the realm of marginal possibility in some areas. Except one does not survive passage through a black hole's event horizon - according to people who know. Something about the "tidal forces" of all that gravity ripping any sort of conventional matter to atooms. Other parts of that scenario are possible. If one got close to the edge of an event horizon time would likely slow to almost a standstil- which means that those in normal space would age much faster. 

The deus X machina is applied, but tastefully.  The plot is vaguely similar to a plot line in Gene Wolfes' Severian Series . Gravity is a huge question mark in physics. Unlike the other fundamental forces of the universe, gravity is little understood. We don't really know what it IS...
If one miracle is possible, many miracles are also possible.

[Ghost Bear]

Also the science, though speculative is within the realm of marginal possibility in some areas. Except one does not survive passage through a black hole's event horizon - according to people who know. Something about the "tidal forces" of all that gravity ripping any sort of conventional matter to atooms. Other parts of that scenario are possible. If one got close to the edge of an event horizon time would likely slow to almost a standstil- which means that those in normal space would age much faster. 

Thing is, though... *spoiler below*
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The black hole was generated by whoever it was that was trying to save humanity (whether that was aliens, or future humanity, is not answered). Since they apparently have mastery of gravity to such an extent, it's conceivable that they manipulated the tidal forces to allow Coop to survive entering the singularity. Which was necessary for him to get the message back to his daughter... which, if the "others" were future humanity, was necessary to enable them to have such control of gravitic forces to allow them to create the black hole in the first place.

In other words... a stable time loop.   ^-^

[240B]

Tried watching a little of the new Orville series on Hulu, couldn't watch it.

Not funny, not compelling, trying way too hard to be contemporary. But most of all, it was simply boring.

It was just a machine gun fire of glib, ad hoc, psudeo-funny, quips after another. Maybe it will find an audience somewhere, but it will not be me. I don't get it.

[kevindavis007]

Some of the highlights are the principle's office scene when Cooper is scolded by some school drone with a political agenda that is more important than the truth. Sound familiar? Kudos to the writers and to the principle for having the courage to speak out.

I'm surprised that was in the movie.  I remember in how the Greenies was hoping this would be a great environmental propaganda. I'm surprised it wasn't. The only message I got out of that movie was that we need to get the frack out off this planet. 

Also the science, though speculative is within the realm of marginal possibility in some areas. Except one does not survive passage through a black hole's event horizon - according to people who know. Something about the "tidal forces" of all that gravity ripping any sort of conventional matter to atooms. Other parts of that scenario are possible. If one got close to the edge of an event horizon time would likely slow to almost a standstil- which means that those in normal space would age much faster. 

I realize that too. Still a damn good movie.

[kevindavis007]

Tried watching a little of the new Orville series on Hulu, couldn't watch it.

Not funny, not compelling, trying way too hard to be contemporary. But most of all, it was simply boring.

It was just a machine gun fire of glib, ad hoc, psudeo-funny, quips after another. Maybe it will find an audience somewhere, but it will not be me. I don't get it.

I'm trying to like it.  I'll be surprised if it lasts a full season.

[240B]

I'm trying to like it.  I'll be surprised if it lasts a full season.

One star on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a dead duck.

It's a rare fail for Seth MacFarlane. If you are going to make a 'funny' SciFi show, and there have been several, Red Dwarf, Futurama, Galaxy Quest, you kind of have to go all the way. And you have to have an understanding of the space genre.

It looks like Seth was not having fun 'with' SciFi, but more like he was making fun 'of' SciFi. I don't know. That was my impression.

[kevindavis007]

One star on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a dead duck.


It's a rare fail for Seth MacFarlane. If you are going to make a 'funny' SciFi show, and there have been several, Red Dwarf, Futurama, Galaxy Quest, you kind of have to go all the way. And you have to have an understanding of the space genre.


It looks like Seth was not having fun 'with' SciFi, but more like he was making fun 'of' SciFi. I don't know. That was my impression.

To be honest, I don't know what the hell is Seth is doing anymore.

[LateForLunch]

Thing is, though... *spoiler below*.
..
The black hole was generated by whoever it was that was trying to save humanity (whether that was aliens, or future humanity, is not answered). Since they apparently have mastery of gravity to such an extent, it's conceivable that they manipulated the tidal forces to allow Coop to survive entering the singularity. Which was necessary for him to get the message back to his daughter... which, if the "others" were future humanity, was necessary to enable them to have such control of gravitic forces to allow them to create the black hole in the first place.

In other words... a stable time loop.   ^-^

Time loop = deus ex machina. Such things are impossible - not because the speculative physics are necessarily wrong, but because Time per se is an illusion. No physicist includes time as a discreet factor in any N-dimensional theorizing. In our universe, time only exists as a relative value -  not an absolute. Things, including the passage of time, may slow or speed up depending on relative velocity or intensity of gravity but that is only vibrational frequencies being slowed - the soup of space-time thickened, so to speak, in one locality. There is no evidence that in THIS universe,  there is any confluence of separate space-time continua - like a reality which exists eternally- and therefore may be revisted the way one goes to a physical location like a National Park. In heaven perhaps. Which is to say the evidence is that the entire physical universe is only a vast vibrating, interacting cosmos in which the Second Law of thermodynamics never spontaneously  reverses itself. What was once an ordered system (like a crystal glass), never spontaeously reassembles itself into an ordered system again once that symmetry is shattered. Chaos can only be made ordered by application of energy outside the chaotic system. Sha-DOO-be.

[Smokin Joe]

Tried watching a little of the new Orville series on Hulu, couldn't watch it.

Not funny, not compelling, trying way too hard to be contemporary. But most of all, it was simply boring.

It was just a machine gun fire of glib, ad hoc, psudeo-funny, quips after another. Maybe it will find an audience somewhere, but it will not be me. I don't get it.

I caught one episode on the cable that came bundled with my fiber optic internet. Well, part of an episode. It launched into a sex change operation for a non human species' baby...
Transparent GBLTQXYZWTF stuff, and not halfway through the first season?
If I want to watch social programming, I don't need it wrapped in poorly written sci-fi. ICK, done, kaput.
Thanks, don't call us we'll call you....
NEXT!

[ABX]

I caught one episode on the cable that came bundled with my fiber optic internet. Well, part of an episode. It launched into a sex change operation for a non human species' baby...
Transparent GBLTQXYZWTF stuff, and not halfway through the first season?
If I want to watch social programming, I don't need it wrapped in poorly written sci-fi. ICK, done, kaput.
Thanks, don't call us we'll call you....
NEXT!

It was a very interesting episode and probably had a different message in the end than you anticipated. Of course, it was probably a Rorschach test, but to me it seemed to be a point of how lately hipster parents are pushing gay/trans/whatever on their babies and raising them that way, this took it to the next level with an actual sex change operation at birth.

The protagonist heroes were arguing against that, saying the baby was born physically a girl and had the right to live as one, not to be changed by the parents.

I've actually seen some posts on social media where the LGBQTABCXYZWHATEVER crowd were not happy at all with that episode because it emphasized being born a gender instead of choosing it.

I'm actually starting to find the show a bit compelling. I thought it would be awful, but it really isn't so far. A bit of old Star Trek camp, a little humor, a little sci fi, but not taking any too far over the top.

[240B]

I caught one episode on the cable that came bundled with my fiber optic internet. Well, part of an episode. It launched into a sex change operation for a non human species' baby...
Transparent GBLTQXYZWTF stuff, and not halfway through the first season?
If I want to watch social programming, I don't need it wrapped in poorly written sci-fi. ICK, done, kaput.
Thanks, don't call us we'll call you....
NEXT!

I saw part of that episode. It had such a confused message I had a hard time following it. It was more trouble trying to figure out what the Liberal 'message' was, than it was worth for me. I gave up.


And I agree that the show was attempting to be more of a Liberal LGQRSTUVWXYZ message, than it was intended to be a science fiction space story. It was just another Liberal/Leftist PSA, masquerading as entertainment as is the norm these days. But, it was a convoluted, self-contradicting point.


Something about whether or not gender is defined at birth or whether it is fluid and can be chosen. I just didn't have the time to try to sort it out. And didn't want to.


When I watch a pseudo-StarTrek type spinoff, I want to see spaceships and ray-guns. I want the Captain making out with the sexy alien. Whatever it was Seth was trying to say, I had no interest in it. I wasn't expecting some kind of 'after school special' on gender identity, but that is what I wound up being fed.


Maybe someone will like it? But not me.

[Ghost Bear]

Time loop = deus ex machina. Such things are impossible - not because the speculative physics are necessarily wrong, but because Time per se is an illusion. No physicist includes time as a discreet factor in any N-dimensional theorizing. In our universe, time only exists as a relative value -  not an absolute. Things, including the passage of time, may slow or speed up depending on relative velocity or intensity of gravity but that is only vibrational frequencies being slowed - the soup of space-time thickened, so to speak, in one locality. There is no evidence that in THIS universe,  there is any confluence of separate space-time continua - like a reality which exists eternally- and therefore may be revisted the way one goes to a physical location like a National Park. In heaven perhaps. Which is to say the evidence is that the entire physical universe is only a vast vibrating, interacting cosmos in which the Second Law of thermodynamics never spontaneously  reverses itself. What was once an ordered system (like a crystal glass), never spontaeously reassembles itself into an ordered system again once that symmetry is shattered. Chaos can only be made ordered by application of energy outside the chaotic system. Sha-DOO-be.

Well, we're still learning about how the Universe works, so I would be hesitant to say what is possible and what isn't. Anyway, it's Science Fiction, so some "bending of the rules" is OK in my book. Whether or not a stable time loop would be possible in the Real World, it's a common enough trope in SF, and they can be fun to play with and discuss story-wise.

[LateForLunch]

Well, we're still learning about how the Universe works, so I would be hesitant to say what is possible and what isn't. Anyway, it's Science Fiction, so some "bending of the rules" is OK in my book. Whether or not a stable time loop would be possible in the Real World, it's a common enough trope in SF, and they can be fun to play with and discuss story-wise.

'Can't disagree with any of that. Very well phrased BTW! Kudos!

I'm just sayin' that time isn't real. It's a perception shaped by space-time. It's a description of a variable in the vibrational frequency of two points in space. A clock is just a machine with sticks that spin around in a circle. A year merely records the fact that the orbit of the Earth is at an almost exact point in its rotation around the sun as it was after 365+ revolutions of the globe. An atomic clock is not measuring the passage of anything like a river, it merely records the number of vibrations of cesium atoms resonating in an electromagnetic field. Just little atoms vibrating inside a machine, no river anywhere.

The way a physicist explained it to me is that the only meaningful defintion of time is the fact that  chaos never becomes order again unless acted on by energy from outside the chaos. In our universe, it appears that time only "moves in one direction" because a shattered glass stays shattered forever. Sha-doo-bee!

So time seems to exist as a forward-moving sequence of events because all of our perceptions reinforce the principle of Entropy.

For whoever/whatever is moving faster through space-time, internal things slow. Not a very helpful thing if one wants to "travel back" to something which once existed. Nothing once observed ever really exists as it was seen. It is something else again. Change takes place every picosecond of existence. How can one hope to revisit something in a Universe that destroys every configuration of reality - every moment, instantly?

 

[sneakypete]

'Can't disagree with any of that. Very well phrased BTW! Kudos!

I'm just sayin' that time isn't real.

@LateForLunch

I'm betting it's real to the people serving it as directed by a judge.

[RoosGirl]

Sorry if I missed the discussion of it, but did anyone catch the Amazon original pilot called Oasis?

[kevindavis007]

Sorry if I missed the discussion of it, but did anyone catch the Amazon original pilot called Oasis?

I did, and I loved it.